Overview

Blonde on Blonde

Arguably one of the greatest rock 'n' roll records ever, Blonde on Blonde came out during a period of great creativity and considerable tumult for Bob Dylan: The 1966 classic followed two other seminal recordings, Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61 Revisited, and came at a time when Dylan was playing his first concerts with a plugged-in band. His predominantly folk constituency booed him vociferously at most tour stops, but he was evidently roused by the response. Mostly written in hotel rooms during his tours in '65 and '66, Blonde on Blonde features enduring novelties like "Rainy Day Women #12 and #35" and "Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat" and bluesy romps such as "I Want You" and "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine," as well as beautiful ballads like "Visions of Johanna," "Just Like a Woman," and "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands." Although it was recorded in Nashville, there isn't a pronounced country sound on Blonde on Blonde. However, following a hiatus (reportedly due to a motorcycle accident), Dylan emerged with a more countrified sound on his following recording, John Wesley Harding, launching another controversial chapter his career.

Bob Dylan's first greatest-hits album was released in 1967, and his second in 1971. Twenty-three
years later came his third, and it's a reasonable compilation of the better-known songs he produced over the period, notably standards like Knockin' on Heaven's ...

Featuring {|Bob Dylan|} together with {|the Grateful Dead|}, the live Dylan & the Dead has
an intriguing selection of songs, including staples like Knockin' on Heaven's Door and more obscure gems like Joey, although both artists have done better.

Bob Dylan returned from exile with John Wesley Harding, a quiet, country-tinged album that split
dramatically from his previous three. A calm, reflective album, John Wesley Harding strips away all of the wilder tendencies of Dylan's rock albums -- even ...

This set is one of Sony Legacy's inventory-clearing exercises: five Bob Dylan catalog titles are
packaged in a slipcase for a budget price. It's an interesting cross-section of material, to say the least. {|Shot of Love|} is the middle volume ...

Reteaming with the Band, Bob Dylan winds up with an album that recalls {|New Morning|}
more than {|The Basement Tapes|}, since Planet Waves is given to a relaxed intimate tone -- all the more appropriate for a collection of modest ...

There has never been a clearer attempt to shed an audience than Self-Portrait. At least,
that's one way of looking at this baffling double album, a deliberately sprawling affair that runs the gamut from self-portrait to self-parody, touching on operatic ...

While it doesn't take many chances, the U.K.-only {|Best of Bob Dylan|} is an adequate
collection of familiar items -- Blowin' in the Wind, The Times They Are a-Changin', Mr. Tambourine Man, Like a Rolling Stone, Just Like a Woman, ...